To Run With The Pack
by ChloeBee AlexisPrime
Summary: William Lennox had rescued the wolf pack, if only to see to the wounds the head wolf had taken. When the wolf refuses to calm down, Will's daughter breaks the rules and seeks to help. Only to find out something about herself that could earn her true friends, and unknown danger.
1. Skill

**"It looks like the red and blue one is the leader of the pack."**

**"The one that's hurt?"**

**"Yeah, that one. He won't let anyone get near the other wolves, especially the pups. Although I wished he'd stop growling every time we got close enough to help him. I can't send anyone in if they're gonna get hurt."**

**"I'll go in and get him out."**

**"No. He'll attack you. Trust me. I have the bite marks to prove it."**

**"Then what can we do? Wait for him to run out of fight?"**

**"I'm afraid that's all we can do. I won't let him hurt anyone."**

**"Ya know, that wolf's a lot like you. You're protecting us, and he's protecting his own."**

**"I know."**

Sarah Lennox, a beautiful young woman with flowing blonde hair, sat with Annabelle, her 15 year old daughter. They were safely watching the wolves from the other side of a window. Across from them, the head wolf was limping back and forth from one side of the room to the other. The harsh wounds on his back were still coating his fur the deep red of blood. He was slowly losing strength; that was clear as day to the two human females watching him walk. The other dogs yipped to him every few seconds. "Can we help him?" Annabelle asked. Her eyes were pleading when she faced her mother.

"No. He wants to keep the other wolves in his pack safe. He will hurt us if we try," Sarah replied gently. Annabelle turned back to the window in time to see the wolf stumble forwards. He tried to get back to his paws, but couldn't quite manage it. He basically ended up crawling. For a second, Sarah turned her back to call for her husband, William. But it gave Annabelle just enough time to run and enter the room the wolves were in.

Every single adult wolf, minus the leader, growled instantly at the young girl's entrance. A pure black one got in front of the others. His fur was puffed up as he positioned himself in between the human and the rest of his pack. Slowly, to avoid frightening the wolf to make him attack, Annabelle got to her knees. She watched another wolf, a slightly smaller wolf with yellow fur which had a red line that reminded her of a heart monitor, stand and approach the leader. He wiggled his nose under the injured wolf's side and eased him upright. Together, the wolves made their way over to Annabelle. The head one pushed away from the yellow one. He reluctantly dropped back to watch the leader limp forward and sniff Annabelle. He then looked up at her with his unearthly blue eyes and placed his head on her lap.

"Hello," she said gently, and she rubbed the top of his head; unafraid of the wild wolf. Behind her, the door was thrown open and Will came in, followed by Robert Epps. The concerned father rushed forward and as a result startled the wolves. The pups yelped and back away while the black adult bared his teeth with a heavy growl. The leader, however, barely raised his head.

"Annabelle, what were you thinking?" Will demanded. Annabelle looked up but didn't pause her ministrations for the poor animal.

"He's not hurting me. You scared them," she responded. Her eyes flicked back down to meet the pained, tired eyes of the wolf resting his head in her lap.

"Yo, Epps! Get a stretcher. We need to see to his injuries. Annabelle, don't do that again. You scared us," Will said. Annabelle nodded as Epps brought in the stretcher. Together, Will and Epps raised the unresisting pack leader onto stretcher. The other wolves were the ones to be riled up. The black one rushed at Will, but a weak bark from his leader made him fall back and resort to merely growling.

Annabelle solemnly went to follow her father and her father's friend out of the room when a short yip drew her attention back to the wolves; a smaller yellow wolf, a pup, with black streaks on his back with a black-tipped tail had been following Annabelle and had recieved a short sharp nip to the tail and ear by the black adult. Now the larger yellow wolf was swatting back the fiercer black wolf, becoming protective over the pup. The fifteen year old lost interest in the door, instead pulling it closed from the inside to avoid letting out any of the wolves. She chose to watch them, for she had never seen such colorful wolves before. The yellow wolf then dragged the black wolf away, both forgetting about the black and yellow pup. Annabelle just sat down and watched the approaching pup, its unnaturally blue eyes glittering in curiosity at the being before him. None of the other wolves had taken such interest in Annabelle before and still none of them did now. Only the little yellow and black one.

_'Hmm... he's completely unafraid...' _Annabelle thought, _'But he's so cute!'_ The pup then sat, its black-tipped tail curled around his paws, and cocked his head to one side, carefully studying the girl. Annabelle couldn't help but copy the pup, her own eyes filled with curiosity that mirrored the younger wolf's. The pup then edged forwards slightly, sniffing around Annabelle's lap. The teenager barely muffled a giggle as the pup started nosing her knees, almost collapsing into hysterics when the wolf licked her left knee.

_**"**__Bumblebee!"_ a voice suddenly called. Annabelle jumped along with the pup who then whimpered and backed away from the human. _"Get your backside away from the human!" _The seemingly invisible voice barked. The yellow and black pup seemed to flinch at the voice before turning back.

"_Yes sir..._" Annabelle stared at the wolf pup, completely dumbfounded.

"Not possible..." She breathed, praying that she was hearing things. Then the big black wolf darted over and picked up the pup, turning and setting him down, away from the girl. Then the impossible happened... or seemed to.

_"You stay away from the pups... or else."_ The black wolf snarled, the powerful canine teeth bared ferociously at the teenage girl. The wolf's voice seemed raw, gruff and incredibly powerful. But instead of replying Annabelle just stared, words failing her.

_"Ironhide! Will you quite bothering the human girl!"_ A less rougher voice barked from where the larger yellow wolf was cleaning a black and white pup with a red upside-down arrow on its forehead.

_"Ratchet, she is endangering the pups!"_ The black wolf, Ironhide, snapped back.

_"Oh, leave her alone. Optimus didn't have a problem with her," _Ratchet, the yellow adult, responded. Ironhide growled and moved back to the group and layed down in front of them, creating a barrier to protect the wolves from the girl.

_"Hey girly!" _A smaller, cheekier voice rang out, _"you ok? Ya look a li'l spaced out there!" _It seemed to be a other black and white pup, one with a blue strip across his eyes and nose, similar to that of a raccoon. Ratchet nipped at his adorably tufted ears.

_"Jazz, leave her be." _Ratchet said, lifting the other pup from his hold and taking Jazz instead; the pup squirming and trying to get away from the adult.

_"Aww Ratchet! I don't need a lickin'!" _Jazz cried out, trying to bat away the older wolf's head. The now-clean black and white pup snorted at Jazz, shaking his head and prowling back to two other pups; both were younger than him, both with the same upside-down arrow on their foreheads. All three seemed to be brothers of some kind, with the black and white being the oldest. Annabelle just continued to stare until a curious voice disrupted her, one that sounded much kinder than Ratchet's or Ironhide's. The girl looked down to find a white and grey wolf in front of her; again like the others its eyes were that same unnatural blue, the fur on the side of his head was a turquoise blue while the rest of his body was a strange mix of reds, whites, greens and greys.

_"Hello. Please forgive the others. We don't usually take kindly to humans. I'm Wheeljack. And you are?" _the newest wolf asked.

"Uh... Annabelle..." Annabelle said blankly, suddenly finding her voice. Wheeljack seemed nice enough but she wasn't about to forget that he had teeth and claws that could rip her to pieces in a matter of seconds. No sooner than she had introduced herself to Wheeljack the other wolves' heads whipped around to face the two beings confronting each other.

_"Wait what?"_

_"She can understand us?"_

_"How is that-"_

_"- even possible?" _A cacophany of voices, both old and young, filled her ears. All of them loud enough to make Annabelle clamp her hands over her ears as the panicked and puzzled voices ricocheted around her head.

"SHUT UP!" Annabelle yelled, all the wolves falling silent instantly. She was shaking like a leaf from the realization that she could obviously speak to them. The voices were strong, like when she spoke to a human, but the sound was different. There was something to it that she couldn't describe. They seemed softer, and almost not there, but strong at the same time. As if the moment she stopped focusing, they would fade away. Though it was clear to hear that she was actually hearing them, and it wasn't in her mind. The wolves were really talking, even though their mouths didn't move. "So not possible..." Annabelle whispered, her breathing turning shallow when Ironhide approached her once more.

_"So..." _he growled, _"so... you can understand us, girl?" _Annabelle swallowed nervously, suddenly aware of all wolven eyes burning holes into her fleshy skin.

"Uh... I guess?"

Anything Ironhide was planning on saying was stolen when Ratchet walked past him and stared up at Annabelle.

_"No wonder..." _he said.

_"Aw, come on. More of that _Prime_ stuff, you and Optimus are always spouting off again?" _Ironhide groaned. Ratchet turned instantly and a growl left him.

_"Lay off it, Ironhide,"_ he snapped.

_"Can you guys save it for later? We have other things to deal with," _Wheeljack broke in.

_"What's going to happen to Optimus?" _the pup, Bumblebee, asked. The adults fell silent as the pups entered the conversation. Now that they weren't moving around, Annabelle was able to take a tally of them. Eight pups, and four adults, counting their leader, who was obviously this 'Optimus' they spoke of.

_"Yeah, I mean, the humans just took him away,"_ another pup, one whose fur was mainly red, added.

_"What will the other humans do to him?"_ the black and white one asked Annabelle herself.

"They, my father and his friend, are gonna do everything they can to help him get better," Annabelle said, slowly easing out the wavers in her voice. The pups seemed to perk up at that, while Ratchet huffed and laid down away from the others.

_"Good. I was... afraid he wouldn't survive. His wounds are... beyond our help," _Ratchet said quietly.

Annabelle managed to build up just enough confidence to ask, "What happened to him?" Ironhide exhaled heavily as he joined Ratchet, and laid down beside the yellow wolf.

_"Another pack. They call themselves Decepticons. Optimus fought the leader of the other pack to protect us," Ironhide replied, "Too bad Megatron doesn't fight fair. He cornered Ratchet, knowing that Optimus wouldn't let him hurt Ratchet. We couldn't help."_

_"We were lucky you humans showed up. Had you not, Megatron would've finished the job," _Wheeljack finished. Annabelle fell silent, her mind slowly digesting the information that it had been bombarded with in the last couple of minutes.

The solemn mood was shattered by two of the puppies, the red that had spoken, and a matching yellow one, beginning a fight. The red offered a yelp when the yellow latched onto his neck. Wheeljack was quick to separate them with the help of the black and white pup. _"Really Sunstreaker? Sideswipe?" _The black and white pup sighed, swatting each one at the mention of a name.

_'So,' _Annabelle thought, _'Sunstreaker is the yellow one with black tufts on the side of his head and Sideswipe is the red one...'_

_"You tell 'em Prowlie," _Jazz teased.

_"Prowl, Jazz, Prowl. Not Prowlie," _the black and white one corrected.

"And the moody one's called Prowl..." Annabelle muttered, risking a glance at her watch. 11:12PM. Getting late. No sooner than she had looked and noted the time Annabelle's eyelids began getting heavy, the girl slowly raising her hands to rub her tired eyes.

_"Hey, you ok?" _Wheeljack asked, gently pawing at the teenager's knees. Annabelle nodded. Ratchet harrumphed.

_"The girl is blatantly tired, Wheeljack." _Ratchet said. _"Aren't you?" _He asked Annabelle in much kinder tone. Annabelle could only nod as a yawn overpowered her. Ratchet then barked out a command, the adults and pups quickly following; the adults nudging at her to stand while the pups gently pulled at her jeans, willing her to come with them.

"What? Where are you taking me?" Annabelle murmured, her body getting ready to shut down for the night.

_"You need to sleep," _Ratchet said, _"lay down rest for tonight child." _The wolf then coaxed the girl down onto the pile of blankets that had been set up for the pack to rest themselves on, but all of them gladly agreeing to help the tired girl.

"Thanks but I-" Annabelle started, only to be cut off by the three adults in the room laying down around her, forming a strange kind of perimeter. The eight pups then clambered over their guardians, all of them yipping and playfully biting each other as they too settled down for the night. The smallest, Bumblebee, had somehow managed to get his small warm body in the crook of Annabelle's neck, the girl giving a short giggle as the fur tickled her skin before yawning a final time and slipping into a dream, one full of bright twirling colours and the wind rushing through her hair.

* * *

**AlexisPrime: **So, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this new story. I started this a while ago, gosh, I've forgotten exactly when I did, but I offered it to ChloeBee as another story we can work on together.

**ChloeBee:** Yeah we seem to be doing a majority of our stories together... even ones on our seperate accounts...

**AlexisPrime:** That seems to be how it works now... Anyways, both of us are having computer troubles. Which really sucks.

**ChloeBee:** Ah yes. Daft old computers. My problem is that I don't have a computer. At all. Mine broke down at least a month ago where it just refused to switch on properly. Then Dad took it to the shop for diagnosis. Turns out the motherboard is fried and died completely... but the hard drive is safe! Yes folks! All my stories and ideas are safe! But now that means I need a new computer... which won't be for quite a while now. Hopefully though for not much longer.

**AlexisPrime:** And mine is that when my brother tried to fix something on it to be able to play a game on it, he made is so that my computer won't read the disc that holds all of my stories. And my mom's computer won't allow me to work on them. My dad's computer is totally off limits, so I have a major setback now myself. And I really don't want to start the chapters over again. I was lucky to save this one. I don't think I will be able to save my computer for quite some time. But we're going to try.

**ChloeBee:** Arhyup! Sorry quoting _Cat in The Hat_ there... but yeah its terrible and I'm now checking FFN and everything else by my phone and I am staying in contact via the Facebook Messenger app on my phone.

**AlexisPrime:** It would kill me if you couldn't! Hope you enjoyed, author signing off.

**ChloeBee:** Same here my fellow author, same here. Signing off.


	2. Pain

The first thing that he became aware of, was the throbbing ache that seemed to spread from his back, neck, and front paw to the rest of his body. His mind seemed groggy, like trying to make sense of your surroundings in a fog. The next thing he noticed was the absence of the rest of his pack. He cracked open an eye and instantly regretted doing so, for the intense lighting stung painfully. He fought to keep his eyes open against the pain. He could hear voices, human ones, as a human tried to calm him by petting the top of his head. But he had trouble waking up, and that frightened him nearly as much as the fact that the other wolves were no where in sight.

"Easy... you're alright," a voice called through the haze. He tried to move but human hands pinned him gently. "Easy boy. You can't move around yet." It took a moment, but the words clicked and he allowed his body to relax. The pain flared and he couldn't stop the whine it caused. "Epps..." The rest of the words were lost as something entered his spine and he yelped.

"Done," a new voice called. He was so confused, lost in a world he didn't know. He felt himself being lifted and placed somewhere else. More words were exchanged, but he didn't notice, even as things became clearer.

What felt like forever passed until he felt a soft nuzzling on his shoulders; he tried to open his eyes again, succeeding, and they were greeted with the sight of his two good friends by his side.

_"Ratchet... Ironhide..." _Optimus wheezed, trying to get to his paws. Ironhide and a shooting pain down his back sent him collapsing down again, Ratchet easing his leader's worry.

_"Try not to move around so much Optimus," _Ratchet said, _"you sustained some painful injuries during your battle with Megatron."_ Optimus nodded slowly, wincing in pain as there was another sharp thing jabbed into his back.

As soon as the pain eased, he felt a soft stroking behind his ears. A human hand. A girl's hand. Optimus couldn't help but whine; he cracked his eyes back open and saw that Ratchet and Ironhide had moved away, a new face had replaced his most trusted friends.

"You're okay, my father was just giving you a sedative to numb the pain from your wounds," a soft voice said. The wolf vaguely recognized the voice as a girl's. A human girl's. He whined and tried to get to his paws, his legs nearly giving out beneath him again.

_"Why... why are you... helping me?" _Optimus wheezed, tensing when the girl grabbed him to stop him from collapsing again.

"Because I can't stand to watch any creature get hurt... by anything." The human girl said gently, rubbing the wolf's head to calm him.

_"Thank... thank you..."_ The red and blue wolf wheezed again, nearly collapsing into the human's grip, _"What is... your name... child?" _Optimus asked, his voice slowly regaining its strength.

"Annabelle, yours?" Annabelle replied.

_"Optimus... Prime..."_ The wolf answered. Annabelle smiled and eased the wolf back down.

"You still need to rest if you want to heal," she told him. Optimus seemed to nod before laying back down onto one of the blankets, his great body rising and falling as he slept. Slowly the pups made their way over to where Annabelle and Optimus were. The adults quickly joined them, though their attention was mainly on Optimus, unlike the puppies who looked to Annabelle first. A green pup, who had been quiet and shy when Optimus had been in human custody, spoke up, his voice soft and gentle.

_"Is Prime gonna be ok?"_ Annabelle nearly jumped at the new voice. The other wolves parted to allow Annabelle to see the pup.

"It's gonna be a long recovery, but I believe he will be fine." Annabelle reassured not only the little green pup, but herself as well.

_"Worst he's ever been injured. Or any of us have been, I should say," _Wheeljack said. He watched Ratchet take his place by Optimus.

_"You're the one to talk. You get hurt the most,"_ Ironhide pointed out. He waited for Ratchet to settle before laying down beside Ratchet. The two wolves then proceeded to launch into an argument, which Ratchet full out ignored while Optimus merely slept through it.

"Are they always like this?" Annabelle asked aloud. The puppies nodded.

_"They are. In fact, at times they can be worse than Sideswipe and Sunstreaker," _Prowl responded. Both pups, which Annabelle had deducted were twins, glared daggers at Prowl and raised their hackles. Then they proceeded into a full on argument against the older pup, eventually getting Prowl's younger brothers involved. The other pups, Bumblebee, Jazz and the green pup cuddled around Annabelle almost for protection from the numerous fights erupting around them. Incredibly, Optimus just slept through it all! Then Annabelle remembered that she didn't quite know what all of the pups' names were.

_"I'm sorry but what was your name again?"_ The green pup said, resting his front paws on Annabelle's knees.

"Annabelle. Yours?"

_"That's a pretty name..."_ the pup said shyly, _"... my name's Hound."_

"That too is a pretty name then Hound!" Annabelle laughed gently, stroking Hound's darker-green-tipped ears. Bumblebee nuzzled into the girl's legs, begging for the same attention. Annabelle happily gave in to what Bumblebee wanted. Her eyes darted over to the three adults laying together when she heard a yelp from Ironhide. It was at that point that Optimus awoke, and a single bark from him ended every argument. Those who had been involved dropped their heads to show they were sorry.

_"Settle down, all of you," _Optimus ordered quietly. He weakly moved closer to Ratchet before settling down once more, his strength fading from his body. The yellow wolf shot his leader a look of concern which was ignored by the red and blue one. Optimus nuzzled Ratchet before pressing their noses together. He then settled down and tried to go back to sleep. His attempts were unrewarded, and he whined in discomfort. The gash in his back had required stitches and Optimus wasn't used to the feeling.

Annabelle moved closer to the adults and slowly went to pet Optimus, more unsure of Optimus than any other. She knew which wolves were open and content with her presence and which were more reluctant. Optimus, however, was a whole different story. Besides the brief show of trust where he had settled with his head in her lap, which was mostly a result of his exhaustion, Annabelle had never interacted with Optimus. Her father had even been bitten by Optimus for trying to help. That fact startled her a fair bit, causing her to be cautious.

_"No need to be afraid of him. He certainly won't hurt you," _Wheeljack suddenly said, causing Annabelle to jump. She looked up from Optimus' vibrant fur to find all of the wolves watching her, and she flushed in embarrassment. Carefully she reached down, her eyes on the others, and ran her hand through the soft fur.

"You hurt my father..." Annabelle pointed out softly to Optimus.

_"I was protecting my pack. He was an unknown threat. Humans hunt us. I couldn't tell if his intentions were innocent, and I wasn't willing to find out," _Optimus replied. He was relaxed beneath Annabelle's hand, and she could feel his even breathing. _"I apologize for harming him. We had just been taken from a fight in which I almost lost what was most precious to me. My mate. I couldn't let any more harm come to my pack."_ Annabelle nodded and watched Optimus slip away again, burying his mind in sleep. She looked around at the wolves and backed away, freeing Optimus' side up once more. Wheeljack filled the space almost instantly.

"So what now?" Annabelle asked Hound quietly, careful to not disturb the sleeping Prime. The shy pup looked up at Annabelle, curiosity and amazement in his glowing eyes.

_"Are we going to stay here?"_ he questioned, ignoring her question by accident.

"Umm... I'm not sure..." Annabelle said uncertainly, gently stroking Hound's tufted ears.

_"No,"_ Ironhide snapped from where he was. He approached and pulled Hound away, still unhappy with her presence. He bared his teeth in frustration as he moved a 'safe' distance away with Hound. He returned to pull the other pups away as well. Annabelle winced before standing, instantly regretting ever speaking.

"Sorry..." She muttered before straightening out her shirt and turning on her heel, "I guess I'll leave you guys alone then..." With her hand on the handle, Annabelle went to exit the room.

_"Wait, Annabelle!"_ Ratchet called. He didn't move from where he was. _"Ignore him... He's just acting like the Alpha even though that isn't his place."_ He growled at Ironhide. Annabelle stopped, her hand still resting on the handle.

"I can't help you guys... But why do you want me to stay?"

_"Because..."_ Ratchet trailed off, looking away. He climbed to his paws and approached, nosing her free hand. _"I don't want to seem like a fool to the others. But you can help us. I need you to." _Annabelle kneeled down again so she was at a decent talking level to Ratchet, a frown working its way onto her face.

"Why? What's so important about me?"

The wolf still seemed nervous.

_"You can understand us... You... never mind,"_ he trailed off again and his head lowered. Annabelle's frown deepened.

"No... Tell me, I'll try to understand..."

_"It's... It's nothing. I'm just being an old fool,"_ Ratchet responded. He moved away and looked up at her, his eyes pained and frustrated.

"No you aren't," Annabelle responded, "and I'm more than willing to answer anything you want to say..."

_"You may be, but others aren't."_

"Well, I'm also stubborn... So you may as well tell me."

_"Just... Just let it go,"_ Ratchet said. He retook his spot beside Optimus and watched Annabelle through mostly closed eyes. It hurt to be so rude to her, but trying to explain would be difficult. Annabelle sighed softly before standing and sitting against the wall, keeping her patience with the wolves on a level. While it hurt for someone to not bother with her, it was also understandable.

She was surprised when Ironhide approached Ratchet. They spoke briefly before Ratchet growled and lunged forward, knocking the black wolf over. Ratchet kept him pinned, growling in a threatening manner, his teeth hovering just above Ironhide's throat. The pups yelped and backed away. Annabelle started towards the two wolves before remembering that they were, after all, wild wolves that would share no hesitation in ripping her apart.

_"Ratchet, stop!" _Wheeljack cried in panic. He got up but blinked in surprise when Ratchet barked at him. The yellow wolf didn't move, keeping Ironhide pinned even when he began to fight. A throbbing instantly began in Annabelle's head as the voices of the pups and a few adults started up in her head, driving her own thoughts down lower. An inhuman command left her throat like a growl and all fell silent instantly. Ratchet's eyes widened and he let Ironhide up.

"I told you," he said suddenly. He moved away from the others and sat in the corner of the room.

Ironhide winced as he got up. He stretched his sore muscles and only looked at Annabelle. He said nothing. The girl's head cleared as the whispering of voices died away, slowly lowering her hands and looked shakily up at the wolves who were all staring at her.

"Told him... what?" Annabelle managed, scared at what she had just done. Ratchet shook his head.

"Are you alright?" Wheeljack asked her gently. "Maybe you should rest..." Annabelle was shaking slightly, a cold sweat on her forehead and neck as she slowly replied.

"I... think so..."

The other wolves settled down, feeling that staying out of it was best. The only ones that didn't were Ratchet and Wheeljack. The yellow wolf stayed away, while Wheeljack went to Annabelle's side.

"We'll be alright if you want to rest... Nothing else will happen," he said. Annabelle gave a slight nod, but she didn't want to rest at all. Her mind was racing and her heart, even more so. Was that even real? Was any of this even real? She had no idea anymore. She heard her mother call for her elsewhere in their house.

"C... Coming..." She replied numbly, slowly getting to her feet and leaving the room and being very careful to close the door behind her.

* * *

Several hours later the wolves had settled and Ratchet had been re-included into the pack. Darkness had fallen and the humans were each asleep. Unlike most types of wolves, the Autobots were most active during the day, rather than the night. So for Ratchet to be awake was strange. He moved out from under the Twins who had draped themselves across his back earlier, and stood, trying to place exactly why he had been woken up. It didn't take long for him to realize.

He nosed Ironhide's side, a soft whine leaving his throat. Optimus was asleep still but moving in reaction to whatever nightmare he was suffering through. Not to mention the fact that he was bleeding again from the movement.

_"Ironhide, get up,"_ Ratchet said. He put a paw on Ironhide's shoulder and shook him gently, trying not to disrupt the others. The black furball stirred slightly before his abnormally sky-blue eyes flickered open, a soft yawn mixed with a growl leaving his throat.

_"Nn... What?"_

_"Primus... We need to get Annabelle,"_ Ratchet stated. He moved away from Ironhide and motioned to Optimus with his head. Ironhide nodded and forced himself to stand, gently nosing Bumblebee to sleep against Wheeljack instead as he did so.

_"Agreed..."_

Ratchet walked to the door and stood on his hind legs, managing to grab the handle with his front paws. He turned it and was dumped forward, nearly throwing him to the ground. He yelped. Ironhide was quick to catch the wolf, steadying Ratchet so he could stand and walk again.

_"Careful... We can't risk making too much noise..._" Ironhide said lowly.

_"I know,"_ Ratchet snapped quietly, he shook his head and led Ironhide through the house silently. Not even the click of their nails on the floorboards could be heard.

_"So what we gonna do now?"_ Ironhide said softly, avoiding a small child's toy on the floor carefully.

_"Search the rooms. Annabelle's has to be here somewhere,"_ the other wolf replied._ "I'll open the doors, you look inside. Deal?"_

Ironhide nodded, his obsidian-black fur standing on end at the thought of rooting through the human's house.

Ratchet didn't notice. He merely continued through the house, aware of the danger they were in. While Annabelle's father may have been kind enough to help Optimus, he wouldn't be as kind if he found two wolves searching his home. Ratchet fought back a shudder at the thought. They would both be killed.

He opened the first door they came across, holding it open a crack, just enough for Ironhide to peek inside. He couldn't hold it like that for long. Ironhide shook his tail, seeing as his head was around the corner of the door, and backed out.

_"Not the girl's."_ He said, ears twitching. Ratchet moved back, pulling the door with, and dropped down once the door was firmly shut again. He glared at it briefly before moving on and opening the next for Ironhide. He could tell that the other wolf was nervous. He couldn't blame him. As much as Optimus mattered to the pack, this was bordering on crazy. And it would be Ratchet's fault if anything happened to Ironhide. It made the yellow wolf wince.

Ironhide's tail thumped the floor almost excitedly. This was the one. And there was Annabelle, her hand half draped across a plushy toy left on the floor. The door swung open the rest of the way, dragging Ratchet with. It hit the wall, shaking the wolf from the slippery handle, and Ratchet slumped against it. With a flick of his head he asked Ironhide to get her. The black wolf nodded and slowly padded over to the human girl, gently nuzzling her hand with his wet-ish nose.

"Mm... No..." she mumbled in her sleep. She rolled over away from the edge and settled again. Ironhide gave a soft growl before licking Annabelle's fingers, nibbling on them ever so slightly, begging for her attention.

Once again she pulled away, but this time her eyes opened. She caught sight of Ironhide and for a moment forgot about the wolves her father and his friend had rescued. She opened her mouth to scream. Ironhide was forced to pounce up onto the girl and practically lay himself across her face, growling.

_"Shhh! It's just us!"_ He almost snarled, begging for her to stay quiet. Her expression faded into one of relief and she nodded as much as she could with a wolf across her face. She saw Ratchet pick himself up and approach. She reached up and gently stroked Ironhide's head. Ironhide almost stayed where he was if it weren't for the fact that his leader was in danger. Quickly, the black wolf picked himself up and shook himself down, jumping off of Annabelle and onto the bed. _"You not gonna scream again, are you girly?"_ He asked, eyes narrowed. She shook her head and sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she did so.

"What is it?" she asked. She glanced at the clock. 2:03 a.m. "It's too early..." Ironhide's ears twitched as he jumped off the bed.

_"Prime's in trouble. He's bleedin' again..."_ Ironhide growled, losing his patience quickly.

"Oh..." Annabelle got up and started to walk back to where the other wolves were. Ironhide and Ratchet followed, both of the elder wolves impatient and nervous. "You should've stayed there," the girl mumbled. "Mom or Dad'll see you two..." She opened the door for them and held it. Once they entered she went inside and headed to a cabinet which was on the wall near the wolves. She grabbed a roll of bandages.

_"We couldn't risk it... Besides, you are the only one we know of who speaks our language and understands us..."_ Ratchet spoke up for once,_ "And the advantage of that is that you know what we'll need, your parents won't..."_

"Right..." Annabelle said. She kneeled in front of Optimus and gently stroked his head, trying to wake him. She didn't feel like being attacked because he woke up while she was helping him. Ratchet lay beside Optimus, gently nosing his head in an effort to wake him up.

Optimus slowly woke, his eyes landing on Ratchet first. He flinched away from Annabelle's hand, still shaken from the horrors his mind created for him. He began to tremble, in pain and so very frightened. He could still see the cutting blood red eyes and flashing white fangs of his brother as the larger wolf went to attack Ratchet. That had been one of the worst things he had ever gone through. It sent a bolt of fresh pain through him and he whined in misery. Ratchet gently nuzzled Optimus again, speaking calmly to him as Annabelle dealt with his leader's wounds.

_"R-Ratchet..."_ Optimus said softly, weakly, _"Please... don't try to face Megatron again..."_

_"I won't... I promise..."_ Ratchet said just as softly, gently licking Prime's ear, _"I couldn't make you do that again..."_

Optimus slowly started to relax.

_"I was so scared I'd lose you..."_

_"You won't lose me, Optimus, trust me... You're too protective to let that happen..."_ Ratchet said, staying close to his mate.

"Finished," Annabelle told the two softly. She watched them, wanting to learn more about them. Especially since Optimus and Ratchet were mates, and yet they were the same gender. There were no female wolves in the pack, but there were several pups, which made her want to know. She smiled slightly and stroked their fur.

Ratchet slowly began relaxing against his mate as he gently pushes his head under Optimus', taking comfort in the fact Optimus would soon recover from his injuries but also feeling guilty somewhat at getting himself cornered by Megatron. After all, it had been his fault that Optimus had been hurt. If he hadn't gotten cornered, than the other Autobots would have been able to defend their land without worrying able the safety of one member of their pack. But because he'd gotten cornered, Optimus had been forced to fight Megatron alone, while being careful to watch where Ratchet was to protect his mate. It was all Ratchet's fault...

_"Ratchet..."_ Optimus said gently, nipping his mate's tufted ear as if he had heard Ratchet's dark thoughts.

_"I'm sorry..."_ Ratchet whispered. _"I truly am..."_

_"It's alright, Ratchet... You're safe and that is all that matters to me..."_ Optimus said just as quietly, nuzzling Ratchet's head as he spoke.


End file.
